Jon Knowles Email & Phone Number

York, Yorkshire, Gb

York, Yorkshire, Gb

Telford, England, Gb

Key Achievements Designed, developed and implemented the first PDSA apprenticeship programme from the initial conception to recruitment.  Managed change within the finance team including the introduction of new systems and overseeing the accounting services team through a time of transition. Responsibilities Staff management - Leading a team of 9 staff. The team leader role is responsible for developing individuals by identifying areas for improvement through regular 1-2-1’s, PDRs, team meetings and by creating and implementing training plans. Treasury – Cash management for PDSA and its subsidiaries 19 bank accounts. Bank reconciliation reviews, inter account transfers, investment recommendations and working capital management.  Sales Ledger – Responsible for 7 Sales ledgers including rebates. Credit Control – Ensuring all cash is correctly and timely allocated and debtor days are kept within the agreed working capital KPI’s. Cashflow forecasting – Weekly 2 month rolling cashflow forecast including variance analysis and identifying the possible need for liquidating investments. Accounts Payable – Overall responsibility for 1200 active suppliers. Ensuring discounts are maximised and invoices are paid within payment terms whilst trying to increase creditor days. System Administration - Manage the accounting system on a day to day basis including setting up new users, reviewing access permissions and ensuring all transactions from the 10 source systems are correctly interfaced and recorded in the books of account. Manage the introduction of new technology – New systems introduced in to the business on a regular basis and the periodic upgrades to existing systems it is my responsibility that from a finance perspective we understand the systems, users are trained to use them correctly and that they integrate with all existing systems. Procedures – Developing and maintaining the procedures manual for the Finance department.

Key Achievements Reduced the month end reporting process for the Yorkshire region from 5 working days to 4 working days within 12 months of my start date. Designed and produced reports with information from external stakeholders to aid the Finance Director in the financial control of our commercial assets. Responsibilities Management accounts – Preparation of monthly management accounts for the Yorkshire region comprising of 4 companies. These are produced to tight deadlines before being reviewed by the RFD. Management reporting – Production of weekly reports for management including business plan, offline trading activities and sales forecasts. Balance sheet reconciliations – Produce monthly reconciliations and analysis for the majority of balance sheet accounts such as WIP, marketing CTC, debtors, purchase / subcontract ledger control a/c’s and VAT. Cash management – Bank reconciliations for 9 companies and processing online CHAPS & BACS payments. Management information – Provide information required for bank funding in respect of the groups joint ventures such as expenditure analysis and cashflows.

Key Achievements Implementing the CRM module of the organisation’s newly acquired accounting software package. This included being the primary contact for all CRM users, training staff and liaising with the software providers to resolve any implementation issues. This resulted in the successful use of the CRM module increasing the efficiency of the corporate and hospitality department and freeing up valuable time for the Deputy CEO to concentrate on strategic matters. Responsibilities Budget preparation – Producing the 2009 budgets for the museum and trading elements of the organisation. Statutory Accounts – Assisting in the completion of the y/e Statutory Accounts for both the museum and the trading company System implementation – Assisting in the implementation of the new accounting software package.

Key Achievements Designed and implemented a site overheads report and league table to monitor costs on site. This involved meetings with site and office based staff including directors to monitor the costs reported. After the implementation the site overhead costs reduced from on average 9% of WIP across all sites to 5% plus confidence in the site managements control over site overheads was high.  During a 4 month period where the Finance Director left and a new Finance Director had been appointed I took on the majority of FD’s duties including attending directors meeting, sole responsibility for submitting monthly and bi-monthly reports to group and key staffing decisions. Responsibilities Staff management – Managing the accounts department of 6 staff. The areas under my supervision are purchase ledger, subcontract ledger and payroll. Acquisition and Merger Activity – Major contribution in the integration of the Westbury Homes ledgers into Persimmon Homes (West Midlands) Ltd’s accounts following the acquisition in 2006. Management Accounts – Preparation of bi-monthly management accounts under tight deadlines. Budget/Forecasting – Preparation of budgets prepared twice annually. This includes meeting with all Directors to prepare an accurate and challenging budget.Monthly flash operating statement to forecast sales revenues, margins and overhead expenditure. Statutory reporting – preparation of year-end statutory accounts supporting schedules and liaising with Group on any statutory accounting matters. Payroll – Completion of PAYE and NIC payments and reconciliations during the year, preparation and submission of P11ds, P46 and Class 1A NI declarations. Supervision of weekly payroll.VAT – Preparation and submission of monthly VAT reports for Persimmon PLC Fleet – Company car fleet administrator.Insurance administrator - Liaising with our insurance brokers with regards to new and ongoing employee and third party claims.

Accountancy

Education record